1. Monday, March 22 at 7pm.   Mass Midwives Birth Circle at the Cambridge Women’s Center.  “Each meeting will include positive birth stories in all settings as well as additional topics regarding pregnancy, birth, and parenting. Come meet women who treasure their birthing experiences.”  For more information see above Women’s Center link or email info@mfom.org

2.   Mothering Magazine – I get a digital subscription and it’s awesome!  No magazines cluttering my house!  I wish more magazines did this – I’d subscribe.    Occasionally, Mothering also offers packets of helpful information, like this Sleep Packet.   The number 1 thing new moms discuss is sleep – their lack of it, and their babies’ ever changing patterns of it.   This packet has a lot of helpful information about sleep during the first year of your baby’s life.

3. A new pamphlet out from Childbirth Connection called Comfort in Labor.    This is a helpful guide to print out and use when you go into labor.  Also,  I highly recommend having a doula if you’re giving birth in a hospital – she’ll help you through all the things this handout mentions, and more!  

4. One of my favorite articles to come out in the last few months on the NYTimes concerns laboring women’s right to eat and drink during labor.  This has been quite exciting, because if you’ve been in labor you know it’s a lot of work and you need *fuel.*   Midwives and doulas have been encouraging moms to snack for years in labor, and hopefully this lifting of the ban on eating and drinking during labor will go by the wayside quickly. 

 I’ll leave you with some cute pictures of our mom and baby class that happens on Friday afternoons.   Happy families!

I realize that wherever you are in the world, it’s so important to find a community that can give you these kinds of resources.   I’m always learning from moms in my classes about new resources.   It got me thinking -

How do you find your community?  

1)     Go to movement class – preferably yoga!!   When you’re pregnant, it’s so helpful not only to move and breathe in pregnancy, but also to meet moms.  This goes for the postpartum period as well.   After my Friday afternoon new moms yoga class, participants go across the street to the local café to keep on talking.   I know many pregnant and new moms make walking/hiking dates, and even have girls’ nights out, baby-free!  

2)     When you’re pregnant, go to the new moms groups, like LaLecheLeague.  Going before you have your baby helps you scope out the best  resources ahead of time, while you still have time! 

3)     Consider taking  childbirth education classes earlier.  The trend these days is to take CBE classes all in one weekend later in the 3^rd trimester.   I recommend taking a 6 week series between your 2^nd-3^rd trimester (like 24-30 weeks).   You’ll interact more in a longer series, and you’ll have more opportunity to act on helpful information you receive (caregivers, test options, etc.)

4)      Keep hanging out with your non-parent friends.   Keeping this all in context is so important!!  In the first months postpartum, it’s difficult to talk about anything else besides babies.   Having some good friends around who have been with you through pregnancy will be invaluable in this time.   They’ll listen to you, but they’ll also help you with some non-baby conversation and stimulation!

5)     Get online.   There are a lot of virtual communities as well that can be a good source of support and information.  Nothing replaces real human connection, of course, but this can be a good adjunct.

I hope this helps moms in my local area, but also around the world.   Please pass along!

Love and light,

Barrett 

I’m adding to my list of favorite books to suggest in pregnancy.   Boston resident (and friend of mine) Ananda Lowe has written a FANTASTIC book all about what you need to know to give birth in the US today.  

It’s called “The Doula Guide to Birth: Secrets Every Pregnant Woman Should Know”  and it’s chock full of helpful tips from Ananda’s years as a doula, prenatal massage therapist, and employee at ALACE (I took her job at ALACE when she left in 2003, and learned much of what I know about pregnancy, birth and postpartum while working there). 

I like this book because it’s very open to all the possibilities of what someone may want in their birth.   I don’t think this book leaves anyone out – she speaks to single moms, lesbian moms, twin moms, and the dads/partners of said moms.  

A student of mine mentioned that she thought the book pushed the idea of getting a doula a little too much.   I’m such a fan of having a doula that I didn’t notice that at all, but I guess someone who knows they do not want a doula might experience that as well.  However, even if you know you don’t want a doula, I found information in this book that is hard to find written about anywhere else, so I still think it’s a great read.

Enjoy!

Barrett

I think this could be a really useful survey that will give many future parents good information about care providers when they are pregnant.   Read about the Birth Survey here.   If you’ve given birth in the last 3 years, I encourage you to fill out the survey.   Future moms need your experience to help them navigate through their choices in childbirth!

The Birth Survey was designed by CIMS – the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services.   They do great work!

Let me know if you fill out the survey!

Barrett

I read this report a few days ago about how hospitals unintentioally discourage breastfeeding through various interventions.   It’s sad that we know the benefits of breast milk for babies, and yet new families often aren’t supported in their goal to breastfeed.

I started thinking about how yoga can help moms who are committed to breastfeeding, even if they’ve had challenges getting started.  One of the challenges with breastfeeding can be getting both mom and baby comfortable for feedings, which can last 10-50 minutes (or longer sometimes).  In my new mom’s class (which is starting again on April 24), we work a lot on the upper body so that it’s comfortable to hold and feed a baby several hours each day.   You can see a short article here that mentions some of the postures we focus on in class:

The Breastfeeding Guru has tips for how to start your yoga practice after you give birth, and when to breastfeed in relation to exercise. Another challenge is just finding the time to dedicate to feeding as well as to everything else (nevermind yoga!).  I know in class, it’s helpful to feed a baby before class because then the baby is content and (hopefully) will give mom some solid time to practice!  

Sometimes a innovative position can be helpful, like side lying while breastfeeding.   This mom talks about how to feed from the side lying position without having to move to switch sides.   She calls it lactation yoga, because it reminds her of some yoga positions she’s practiced. 

The greatest impact yoga may have on encouraging moms through the first few months of a baby’s life is in cultivating patience.   A newborn requires an intensive amount of energy, especially from the feeding parent.  In the new moms class, one goal is to help each mom find the present moment, and connect to their baby and to themselves.   One mom I worked with said that the hours of feeding her baby kept reminding her of the patience she cultivated on her yoga mat, one breath at a time, one pose at a time.  I hope that remembering how it feels to be connected on the yoga mat helps new moms (and all new parents) be connected through the long hours and days and months of a new baby’s life.  

Finally, a very cute video – am I weird for wanting to be this mom someday?   Warning – there’s a breast in this video, don’t watch if that’s not cool with you J  

Namaste,

Barrett

For all the moms who I’ve worked with over the years, I always recommend Mothering Magazine, and often give out a complimentary copy of the magazine in my prenatal classes (I’ll be giving them out today at Black Lotus – Monday 2/16 President’s Day)  

Awhile ago, Mothering started offering their magazine online, which is fantastic!  Here are the benefits of subscribing to the online edition of a magazine:

-          Cheaper than getting the print copies

-          Ecofriendly – no paper!   This is also good for folks like me who are trying to be more minimalist (ie have less clutter).

-          Access to previous issues – they have an archives section!

-          Can print what you need, and also email articles to friends

-          Awesome content

I also love the Mothering.com discussion boards, and just checking out their website, which features even more content.

Check it out, moms and moms-to-be!  Now, if only other magazines would follow suit, I’d have some room in my office…

Namaste,

Barrett

Has everyone else noticed how often people are singing the praises of Vitamin D?

Just the other day in the NYTimes, it was reported that low levels of Vitamin D are associated with a higher incidence of Cesarean surgery. 

In fact, this year, it came out that a lack of Vitamin D may increase your risk of heart disease, autism in children, cancer (colon and breast), and some autoimmune diseases.

Doesn’t it seem like every few years, there’s a new wonder vitamin?   And then a few years later, that vitamin, in high doses, seems bad for you.   I did a little research, and surprise!   I found out that just taking higher doses of Vitamin D may not be a great idea.

Here’s an article about Vitamin D supplementation from Science Daily.  In it, the study suggests that “ingested vitamin D is immunosuppressive and that low blood levels of vitamin D may be actually a result of the disease process. Supplementation may make the disease worse.”

This means that in some cases, taking a Vitamin D supplement may make the situation worse.   I thought it was important to note that it says “ingested” Vitamin D.   Most of us know that the “sunshine” vitamin is produced in our bodies from exposure to sunlight.  

Even in the wintertime, taking a walk outside can expose you to some Vitamin D.   Go out in the unseasonably warm winter days and expose your skin to the air and the sunlight!   Try to get away this winter to a warm, sunny place.   I think all these years, when I’ve been saying that I was “soaking” in the sun while on vacation in the winter, what I was partially doing was storing up Vitamin D!

Yay for a healthy wintertime in 2009!

The article also talks about fresh and local produce being more accessible to kids in school and to residents through farm shares. 

It reminds me of this article earlier in the week, about a doctor who eats only organical food for 3 years.  He’s coming out with a new book on ”green” living during pregnancy.   Should be interesting!

It’s an amazing video for those of you thinking about your birth options, now or in the future.  It’s pretty well-balanced, interviewing a range of providers and families, but the central story it tells is about why giving birth, and the place you give birth and the way you give birth, is controversial.  And why it matters to many women and their partners.  

I want to recommend it to anyone who is planning on being pregnant in the next few years, or to anyone who cares about healthcare and access to a range of care options.  I found particularly compelling the parts of the documentary about how few birth centers there are, and about the lobbying actions of ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) to make homebirth illegal.  In Massachusetts, we had 3 birth centers when I started working in the prenatal field – one closed about 3 years ago, and 1 is on the  verge of closing now, as I’ve written about here in this blog.  That leaves only one left, the Cambridge Birth Center.   They are maxed out, filled to capacity, months in advance.   Clearly, there’s a desire on the part of women to avoid the excess of interventions in birth, and yet there’s little access to low-tech birth options.

Anyway, when I watch something like this, it confirms to me that prenatal yoga is more important than ever.  As you’re growing your baby, you need a safe and sacred space away from all the hype, and the fear, and the questioning.   Each of us need that space in our lives to be still and silent, and let our bodies’ wisdom shine forth.   I think if more women felt good about themselves, from yoga or childbirth education classes, or from positive, empowering visits with their midwives/doctors, then we’d have better outcomes for women and babies.    

I encourage you to watch the documentary – it’s compelling! Next on my list is to read Birth and Pushed.   Anyone read them?

It’s heartening to read this front page news in the NYTimes about more women choosing home birth.   I think enough information is out there about women not being listened to in some hospital settings, and of the huge number of unnecessary interventions happening these days (I’ve written on this before here).

My sincere question is – if ACOG (the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) and the AMA (American Medical Association) really want satisfied customers and good outcomes for healthy and happy babies *and* moms, why don’t they try to support homebirth with the best kind of backup support and communication between midwives and doctors? Instead, doctors are strongly discouraged from developing relationships with homebirth midwives.  Why don’t they try to establish a more nurturing atmosphere in the hospital so that more families are satisfied with their hospital birth experiences?  Instead, more often than not, women are pressured into following hospital protocol, and aren’t encouraged to question their care on anything – from the easy (do I have to wear a hospital gown – why can’t I give birth in my own clothes?) to the more complicated (why do you induce labor? when do you induce labor?  what are the many methods of induction?  what if I don’t choose to be induced?).    

Finally, it’s all well and good that ACOG says they support births in either a hospital or “accredited birth center on hospital grounds.”  But how many birth centers are left these days?   We had three in Massachusetts.  The Wellesley Birth Center closed abruptly a few years ago.  The North Shore Birth Center is about to close as we write (click here to get in on the consumer actions being taken to try and save the birth center).   Only the Cambridge Birth Center remains – which fills up months and months in advance.  The fact is, the climate exists where birth centers can’t operate freely – the owners/practitioners are scared out of business.  It’s only because of the homebirth midwives, who really are tenacious, amazing women who will not be silenced, intimidated or scared, that we still have a national conversation about a family’s rights in the birthing world. 

To all my wonderful prenatal and postnatal students, present, past and future: every birth is sacred.   On some level, I don’t care how or where someone gives birth (that’s only one part of the whole experience of pregnancy and parenthood). I only care that every mom and family feels respected, cared for, and informed.  I am supporting homebirth midwives, birth centers, and all other practitioners who are working for this same right to choose how you will bring your baby into the world. 

One of the things I work on the most in my prenatal classes is educating students about the “cascade of interventions” that can happen in many hospital births.  I strive to be neutral in class, especially recognizing that all sorts of moms come to prenatal class.   I try not to assume everyone wants a vaginal birth with few interventions.   Every year I am getting better at this, but still, I think it’s obvious if you talk to me that, in general, I favor as few tests and interventions as possible (hence, the title of this post).

Last week, an important evidence-based report was published by Childbirth Connections, an amazing advocacy group for women and families.  It’s long and somewhat dense, but USA Today and Consumer Reports have written articles in summary.  I’m reading the report in bits and pieces this week.

Here is an excerpt from the Consumer Reports article, talking about the overuse of high-tech measures:

The report found that, in the U.S., too many healthy women with low-risk pregnancies are being routinely subjected to high-tech or invasive interventions that should be reserved for higher-risk pregnancies. Such measures include:

- Inducing labor. The percentage of women whose labor was induced more than doubled between 1990 and 2005

- Use of epidural painkillers, which might cause adverse effects, including rapid fetal heart rate and poor performance on newborn assessment tests

- Delivery by Caesarean section, which is estimated to account for one-third of all U.S births in 2008, will far exceed the World Health Organization’s recommended national rate of 5 to 10 percent

- Electronic fetal monitoring, unnecessarily adding to delivery costs

- Rupturing membranes (”breaking the waters”), intending to hasten onset of labor

- Episiotomy, which is often unnecessary  

Though women and their partners shouldn’t have to become “experts” on maternal and fetal care when they’re pregnant, it’s very helpful to remember that you are a paying consumer.   I recommend finding a doctor or midwife who will take the time to answer the questions you have, and who will talk to you about your choices, options and alternatives.   Too often, women come to my class and say something like, “My doctor won’t let me go past my due date.  She’ll induce me if I do.”   We have to remember that we have a responsibility in all of this to ask questions, and know that it’s *our* decision whether we have that test or procedure.  We cannot abdicate responsibility for our bodies and our babies, even if a doctor/midwife presents a procedure as non-optional.  The time to set up this dynamic is before you’re in labor – it’s difficult to have rational conversation and decision-making in the midst of active labor!   

If you’re pregnant, remember that you need to have confidence in your provider.  It’s never too late to switch providers if you’re unhappy.  I’ve had students switch providers mere days before giving birth!  But also remember, the most important person to trust is yourself, and your baby.  That’s how we use yoga – to empty out everything else so that we can hear the voice inside letting us know what we need to do. 

Namaste,

Barrett

Anytime we come to the mat to practice, we bring all that’s happened to us stored inside someplace.  We bring the difficult parts especially –  the tense conversation with our boss, the silent treatment we got from our partner, the anxiety about our child.  Of course, we also bring the good things – the smile from a stranger on the subway, the achievement of a job well done, etc.   Our practice reflects back to ourselves how we’re feeling, and often helps us know why we’re feeling that, and what to do about it. 

That is all magnified in a very intense and focused way when someone is pregnant.   For a very specific period of time, such extraordinary growth is going on, and I don’t mean in just the physical realm!  Mentally and energetically, women are so *ripe* in their yoga experiences, so ready to meet change and become a new person on the other side of it – a parent.   They know they must change, and slowly but surely, through the weeks and months that they come to class, they let go of what used to be, and merge into the ever-evolving present. 

Prenatal class is magnifying glass to see a yogi’s accelerated growth.   It happens to anyone who consistently practices, but when you’re pregnant, there’s a bit of a deadline! You can’t put off your practice for a few months if other areas of your life heat up.  You must do it now. Pregnancy seems to help women crystallize what’s really important to them.  

It’s not always a pretty or graceful transition!  We have a lot of struggles that we talk about in class, and a lot of tears and laughter and joy.  But it’s so helpful to share with a roomful of women who are in a similar place in life.  I think a lot of students come in feeling alone, but leave yoga class feeling like part of a positive community. 

Teaching prenatal yoga has helped me teach in my regular classes.   I feel so much more open to just *being* with someone’s struggles when they share with me.   I think I’m just able to hold the space and not try to fix it like I might have wanted to years ago when I was a new teacher.  Best of all, being with pregnant women has helped me know better how to gently but firmly encourage someone to see it through, and stay on the self-healing path, even when it’s tough.   

This is just a beginning of why I love teaching pregnant women.